Lubricator



March 30 1926. 1,579,048

R. H. YALE LUBRICATOR Filed August 23, 1923 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 R. It 741.5. mmvm .BY I

A T TORNEY."

March 30,1926.

' R. H. YALE LUBRICATOR Filed August 23, 1923 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Iii/1. K44:

IN VEN TOR.

ATTORNEY Patented Mar. so, 1925.

I TED .s PATENT eerie-5E. i

RODNEY ZHJYALEQQZF mew-m, NEBRASKA,"ASSIGN0R 10-CREXFOBJD W. YALEfiOF i I "-IJINCOIN,*,NEBBASKA.

irunmoarone Application filed 'August 23 1923. Serial- 110. 658,962.

To (ZZZ whom it may conce'rm Be itjknown" that I; RODNEYI-I. YALE, a citi'zen'of the United States, residing at Lincoin, in the county of Laneastei and State ofNeb'raska, have invented certain new and useful Improvements. in Ljubrieators, of which the following is -a--specifieation v This invention relates to -,certain'improvements in methods of lubrication for journal boxes and journals of railroad and railway cars, locomotives, street OflTS and othervehieles and machines. V The objects and nature of the invention Will be readily understood by those skilled in the art iinthelight of (the following explanation of the accompanying drawings illustratingavhat I now believe to be the preferred mechanical expressionuor embodiment of my "invention from among other i'orn'is, constructions,wand arrangements within the spirit and scope thereof;

One object of my in-ventionis the pro:

vision of means forcontainingand carrying' a supply of grease '(non-fluidlubricant);"in

4 suflieient quantity foripositivelyarid automatically feeding a continuous supply of the lubricant to the hearing. overalong-fin V I V purposes of e xplanationylt "have shown an period of time Without the necessity of inspection, adjustment, or refilling, 'and Without the use of --waste"or' :other, -absorbent material; the lubricant being so positioned that it ivillbe in contact withxthezmoving member and its bearing and so arranged that it Will be "fedth'ereto by-and on account of the jolting or vibrationof the vehicle or machine of which the moving member and bearing are parts.

It isa further obi eet-of my 'invention'to provide a method and means for lubricating.

bearings Without the use of waste-onother absorbent material, the direct application of the lubricant oln' iati1ig f fires in h'otwbioxes and the carrying of grit and metal; particles into the bearings. o

Still another object of invention-is the provision of 'devic e of this *oharaoter "which will be simpleiiniieonstmiotionj efiident in practiee, andecono iiiiealiiin manufeature, and which is: so idesig neclthat itzoan be quickly and easily attached without altering "or remodeling parts now' in -use.

' "Nith' these and other o'bjeets in view; sin whole or -iIl paTt,' ti1e invention resiile's yin and consists of njeptainftiovel teaturesin the journal box.

struction; or in'combinationsand arrangements as" more fullyaand particularly set forth and, specified hereinafter.

YReferringinOW to the accompanying drawings whichl are part of m application .Figfure this a View :in perspective of, a journal boxlfor arailWay-Car, @the journal bOXb'eing-fitted ivithja lubrieator embody ingmy invention; '2 V fitted with afgrease retaining packingring.

fFigure wis side elevation-of :a portion ofa railway Iear ournal-W161 the; dustguard and packing ring, the dust guard; and paclev ing ring being shown inseetion.

t Figure 5 is an relevationv ofthe, clamping, arrangement for. securing the ilubrieator to In the. particular enample illustratedjordinary, common journal box iorva railway c ai' journal,- which vill' be familiar, together with its use and operation, to "those skilled inthe art. Y

It is ,not deemed neoessa-rylto show the railway ,ear or more than'a'fragmentary;

portion of the car axle to-adequately illus trate and vdescribe my; invention and :its

application, as itis adaptable-to any journal bfoxl-oivjoinnalbearing or other bearing for -;anylnndof movinggpart where theretis suffieient-vibnation or jolting of-the parts-to cause 1 the supply of lubricant to be fed auto inatio'ally to the: bearing.

The lubricant reservolr l0-is formed Y-With 'imperforate Walls 11, 1 which are preferably flared or enlarged outwardly and upwardly i from Fthe month'lil of'th1e f jiourna'l biog:v to =;sulc-)s'tant-ialiy, the line {Q -2. as indicated :in Figure? "The. upper portions-Mike sides '11 eontenge toward the mouth or opening "13, which in my preferredoonstruetio n 'has the sames ze and ,d n'iensions as the opening 12 nof the journal box. Adjacent the open 'in-g13-tl1e wallll is provided Withelugs -15 "whiehizareisimzilertofthe lug "16 ef'the :{joul nal box 17, these lugs being so positioned that the lid 14 and the spring 18 will function in the same manner as when the lid is hinged to the lugs 16.

This construction enables me to provide a lubricant container of large capacity, and so constructed and proportioned that it will not interfere in any way with the working parts of the car truck, at the same time leaving the lid free from interference when it is desired to raise or to lower the lid. It will also be noted that no alterations what ever are required in the construction of the journal boxes already in use on railway cars. It is only necessary to remove the lid from the journal box, to secure my lubricant reservoir to the journal box in the manner shown in Figures 1 and 3, and then to secure the lid to cover .the mouth 13. It is'my desire however that the illustrations and description explain the convenient and economical adaptability of my invention to any of the journal boxes in common use on railway cars, locomotives and other vehicles and machines. It is not my desire however to restrict myself to the precise form of my invention shown in the drawings, nor to convey the impression that the invention is adaptable onlyto the particular type of journal box and lid illustrated, these particular types being shown merely for convenience and by way of illustration.

The lubricant container may be secured to the journal box in any desired manner, as for example by means of the clamp arrangement shown In Figures 5 and 6. The clamp consists of two parts 19 and having their lower edges directed inwardly 4. This comprises two as shown in Figures 3 andti. The parts 19 are provided w th cars 20 as shown in Figure5 whereby the parts 19 may be secured together by means of bolts 21 or other suitable fastening devices. This clamp arrangements aifords a convenient device for securing the lubricant container to the journal box to cover its opening 12 after the lid 14: has been removed therefrom. The flange 22 on the l'ubricator reservoir 10 and the lip 23 surrounding the opening 12 of the journal box 17 provide secure holding surface for the clamp 19, which as will be seen by reference to Figures 3 and 6, is formed to closely fit the flange 22 and the lip 23, r

I also show a dust guard or lubricant retainer, this being shown in its relation to .the journal box in Figure 8 and separately shown in enlarged detail in Figure wood pieces 24. having in this instance the same dimensions in their outer measurements as the usual wooden dust guard of railway car journals 'the movement on the roadway.

be passed as shown in Figure 4. The pair of pieces 24 is so formed as to enclose and tightly engage a felt ring 25 which is formed with converging and inclined sides against which the wood parts are compressed when the screw threaded bolts 26 are tightened, this action tending to cause the felt ring 25 to fit closely against the car axle 27 and to thus prevent the escape of lubricant and the entrance of dust.

In the application and use of my invention in connection with such a bearing as,

I have illustrated for the purpose of ex planation, the journal box 17 and lubricaut' reservoir 10 are filled with grease of'light or moderateconsistency, non-fluid, but not shown in my illustrations, the journal 28 rotates in the bearing 29, which lies in con-- tact with the wedge 30. As the car or locomotive moves on its road-in ordinary use, the journal rotates in its bearing and a certain vibration or jolting results from This jarring, jolting and vibration causes the lubricant to be automatically fed to the bearing as long as there is a supply of lubricant in the reservoir or journal box.

One of the principal and primary objects of thisinvention is the provision of an economical method of applying a large supply of lubricant, suilicient for auto-- matically and continuously lubricating the bearing over a long period of time, the method being applicable to the present com mon' type of journal box generally used on railway cars of-many kinds, and on other rolling stock, without changingor rcp]ac ing the present equipment or installation. The method further contemplates the doing away withthe use of fluid oil and of waste tor other absorbent material which is the principal cause of fires 1n hot boxes, re-

sulting in loss of time through delays and in the loss of material occasioned by the necessity of the replacement of burned out parts.

My device is also readily adaptable to designs and types of bearings for moving parts other than the' type of journal box shown in my drawings. For instance, should new designs of railway'jomnal boxes be constructed for especial use with my invention, it would be advantageous from the standpoint of economy to materially reduce t e space t een'the'journal and the bottom of the journal box, since the usual, common, present day journal box was originally designed to be filled with waste. Since I do away entirely with the use of waste, it is not necessary to provide space for waste in the journal box.

Iliis invention is an improvement in the method of and means toifllubricating any bearing of a n'ioving-part of any vehicle or machine where there is sufficient vib 'ation to cause the grease supply to feed the bearing, as the large supply of lubricant provided will under such conditions feed auto- 'inatically and continuously to the bearing ver a long period 015 time (several weeks or months), without t 1e necessity of inspection, attention, or recharging. The lubricant sup- )lied to' the bear-in will be free from rit and from particles of'metal that may be detached from time to time by the action of the parts. The tendency of grit and metal particles is to sink to the bottom; It fluid or fluent lubricant is used-either with or with out waste, these substances reach the bearings through the waste as a .mediuin or through the churning of the liquid lubricant. Vith my invention however, these substances remain at the bottom of the journal box, since there is no mediunrt'hrouglr which they can travel upwardly toward the bearing. v 1

This invention has particular and special merit when applied to journal boxes for railway cars. The necessity for frequent inspection and recharging, no wrequired by the present general practice of lubricating with fluid oil and waste, is avoided in the use of my invention. There is also a very material saving of the cost of the waste, as well as in the cost of the oil which works out or is otherwise wasted at present.

thus saving not only the cost of thebearings i it savin also the labor costs ofthe re Maceb 0 ment of the bearings. Another advantage of my invention over present practices is the" entire avoidanceof hot boxes'with the at tendant delays, inconvenience, and expense incidental thereto. i

In the present system of lubricating railway car journals, insufficient attention is given in many instances to theexclusion of dust from the, rear side of the journal box, and it is welllrnown that dust entering the journal box injures the quality of the lubricant and tends to injure the bearings. In

my invention the dust is excluded from the journal box by the dust guard and lubricant retainer.

It is evident that various changes, variations, and'modiiications might be resorted to without departing fronrthe spirit and? V scope of my invention and henceI do not lily inven-- tion also avoids the burningout of bearings,

its bearing for a eoii'iparatively long period of time while in normal service and having a convenient opening for refillingwith lubri-v cant, said box confining the grease in a manner to keep it in contact with said part and bearing while in normal operation,the body portion of said box having an'enlargement of greater area in cross section than the area of therefilling opening, a portion of the interior of said box sloping toward its bottom to, permit the grease to slide downwardly when aidedby the normal vibration of the machine of which the said moving part and bearing are'members.

1 2. In combination, a machine, a journal, a journal box and bearing therefor, an'enlarged normally closed part ofthe journal box exteiiding upwardly and laterally'i'roin the bearingto hold a comparatively largesupply of non-fluid lubricant for long continuousselt lubrication, two or nore of the sloping interior, walls of the enlarged part acting. as a retardentto the free; downward movement of the-lubricant toward the" bcaring unless aided by the vibration; of said parts due to the normal, operation "of the machine.

In combination, a journal box tor mu; f v V i 3' way cars and similar vehicles, the journal and its bearings, acontainer having two or more of its sides enlarged laterally from said bearin s and ,ada' ited to confine, a reserve supply of 'non-fluidor grease lubricant in contact with said bearing, the position and form of said container being such that the. VllJlfitlOII or arring ot the container is i-e quired to cause the lubricant to feed toward and to the bearing.- L

4-. In combination, ajournal, a bearing and supporting elements therefor, a con-' tainer having its middle portion enlarged on two or more of its sides and adapted to confine a relatively large store of non-fluid lubricant in communication with said journal and bearing and so positioned that it will supplythe journal and bearing with new lubricant-when vibrated or jarred.v

In testimony whereof 'I my signa ture. r

" RODNEY H. YALE, 

